Annie, bless your heart for taking on this little girl!! She needs you. Baby steps; you'll just want to get her used to everything as if she were a puppy; slowly and with lots of positive reinforcement. Her past may have "hard wired" her brain to think a certain way now (fearful, insecure) but that doesn't mean she doesn't have the potential to change. Give her time, and love, and when you see the first "tail wag" you will know it had all been worth it. Good luck!! <3

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Thanks everyone for the kind words! Nova is doing better today. She made her last trip to the vet to get the dressings off her back feet, so that should really help things. Also I got a thundershirt and it did help! I put it on her and about 10 minutes later I saw this-



I have only been taking pictures with the cell phone because I can turn off the sound and it doesn't startle her. I got this one right as she saw me and bolted back into the crate, first time I saw her stand up straight. Later though she came out and sniffed the room a little bit. It is funny because she really, really wants to follow Kerri around, but Kerri wants to be near me. Nova is not so keen on being around me and you can see her little brain working on that predicament. If I put Nova on the couch next to me (we have been doing that to fluff up her crate/change pee pads and water) she will stay there as long as I don't make any attempt to touch her. Last night with the thunder-shirt on she looked at me with her head up and her ears perked. As far as sitting on the couch with me I have been not pushing it but she does need to be checked out and her stuff cleaned at least once a day so I am having her sit next to me for that.

In other news we were thinking she might be mixed with dachshund (aka chiweenie- *shudder*- hate that word) but now that she stood up straight I am re-thinking that. The vets office told me they don't think there is any "weenie" in there and the rescue gets a lot of that particular mix and she is not 1/2 doxie IMO. At least 3/4 ch I am thinking if there is any dachshund in there at all, or she might just be really badly bred chi. With her height I am not thinking her and Kerri are littler mates, but I do think they must be related. They just look so exactly alike, she just has shorter legs.

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So lovely! She looks almost like a little wild dog with her long legs! Too cute!

Thanks! I think her and Kerri look a little like wild dogs, I just love their coloring.

Also wanted to leave an update for today. It is day 5 here and Nova is much more up and about today. Still doesn't want to come near me, and if it even looks like I am coming towards her she hides in the crate and shakes. The good news is that she is venturing out and hanging with the other dogs. She even grabbed a small antler and dragged it into her crate. I thought that was HUGE. It was only a couple of feet and I was in the other room but still that takes some gumption. This all happened while she was wearing the thundershirt so I am going to keep using that. It is a bit of a trade off because I have to just go into her crate, grab her and put it on, but she really does get brave while wearing it so I think its worth it.

She is eating like a champ too (as long as I leave the room)- powered through 1/4 of a cornish game hen today in no time. I also got a can of wellness 95% chicken to stuff into a kong every time I leave the house. At this point she really does not care we are leaving but she needs to eat and put weight on and wont take treats while we are there. The 95% meat stuff is a great consistency to get into the kong and my hopes is that it will be easy on the tummy sticking to just chicken right now. Usually starting raw it would be a week of no other foods just raw chicken but I am not totally comfortable just leaving her hunks of raw chicken in a crate while I'm gone.

Just one concern I have. Giving her a treat every time we leave is sort of rewarding our absence and that concerned me a little because we really want to be rewarding our presence right now. On the other hand it could be we are helping prevent her from making a 180 like a lot of shy dogs do and getting separation anxiety. At least the kong is coming from us so that is a good association. Opinions on that particular issue are welcome.

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She's beautiful! I don't really have any advice because I've never rehabbed a dog, but I think you're doing great so far. I can wait to see her blossom!


Sent from my iPhone using Petguide.com App

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For what it's worth here is what I recommend...
Give her her chicken filled kong not only when you are about to leave, but
also at a random moment...on occasion only. Some day she gets it after her
walk, another day she gets it while you are watching tv, but she always gets
it while you are out. This way the only association she is making is the fact
that you equal something positive.

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Sounds like a plan.

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My goodness, I thought Leila was bad. Not bad, but sad I guess.
She did the same thing, hiding and slinking around close to the ground. They said she was probably a stray her entire life. She stayed close to me though and was super attached, never leaving my side. She's now to the point of actually playing with us, getting on the groud and making huffing sounds and running away then coming back to pull our pants leg and run away again.
Edit: Just read alittle more, Leila does have really bad seperation anxiety now.

That poor baby, I'm so happy you decided to keep her! You are such an awesome mommy! Praying for her <3

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